On 30 November we celebrated the end of 2018 with our Annual General Meeting and Dinner.

2018 was another successful year. On top of all our regular events, we ran a successful conference and helped host the first Australian 'Rusticatio'.

At the dinner, Anthony Gibbins was awarded the Raeburn trophy for the advancement of classics for organising the Rusticatio and developing his wonderful website Legonium. Our resident potter, Dorothy Healey provided a beautiful new trophy after the previous statue met an unfortunate end in transit.

We also awarded life membership to Karyn Moon in recognition of her years of service to the profession and the association.

We wish everyone a happy and restful holiday break and look forward to more fun-filled Classics events in 2019.

This January, spend a week exploring the ancient world with Dr Christopher Gribbin at the annual Hellenic Museum Summer School. This year's summer school features short courses focusing on four thought-provoking topics:

the Minoans and Mycenaeans

Cities of the Greek and Roman World

Ancient Greek Religion

How to Argue Like Socrates.

Classes are informative, relaxed and entertaining, taking place in the heritage-listed Hellenic Museum and with access to the museum's fantastic collection of antiquities.

The summer school is an ideal way to get to know the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines better or to learn about them for the first time.

Our 2018 conference took place on 17-19 November, providing the Classical Languages teaching community with an unparalleled opportunity to share ideas, network and socialise.

We welcomed members from all over Sydney and formed new relationships with colleagues from Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, New Zealand and Hong Kong! All attendees attested to the usefulness and value of the plenaries and workshops, as well as the opportunities to informally talk and share ideas.

We owe an enormous thank you to our President, Emily Matters, and to the rest of the conference committee for the countless hours spent ensuring the smooth running of the conference. Thank you to all who presented plenaries or workshops and to all who participated with such enthusiasm.

Please check the Resources page to download some of the presentations given and for links to various websites mentioned. This will continue to be updated.

The results are in from last night's Year 9 Latin Reading Competition! Thank you again to Alison Chau and Karyn Moon from Sydney Girls High School for hosting another wonderful evening. Thank you also to Joydeep Hor from People + Culture Strategies for his continued sponsorship of this wonderful evening.

The Kevin Lee Latin quiz was held this year on Thurs 21 June. A big thank you to Jo Whiteman and SCEGGS Darlinghurst for hosting again this year, to our quiz master, quiz writer and judge on the night, and to all of the teachers who inspired their students to attend and compete (including Newington who were competing for the first time). It was a thrilling night as always, with SCEGGS taking home a rare (perhaps first-ever) double double win.

James Morwood’s memorial was held in the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford on Sunday February 4, 2018. A large crowd of people was present, representing all aspects of James’s career as Classics teacher at Harrow, lecturer at Oxford, prolific writer, mainstay of the annual Greek Summer School, theatre and music critic, and very well loved friend. Emily Matters' book, Eureka!, is dedicated to James and was mentioned at the memorial service and put on display.

"Eureka - an introduction to Classical Greek for young Australians" by our very own President, Emily Matters, is now available for order. It is an introductory textbook that makes links with Aboriginal culture and Australian history. The price per copy is $35, and $15 for a teacher's manual, with a free PDF of the teacher's manual available with purchase of five or more copies.

Anthony Gibbins, a member of the CLTA, has been working very hard to organise the first Rusticatio Australiana which will be happening in July 2018! Visit the website for information about the beautiful Kangaroo Valley location, as well as the program itself.

Lock the dates into your diary, July 16th-20th. Registration will open in February so stay tuned for further news. The final cost has yet to be calculated, but the organisers are determined to keep the price (accommodation, food and program) below $900.

The Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney is running a 'Tea For Teachers' event on Thursday September 7th.

This is an annual event for university Classics students, and those with Classical languages degrees currently doing teaching qualifications, to meet practising teachers and to make the sort of links that are ultimately helpful in getting staff for Latin and Greek at different schools and so keep going this wonderful, and expanding, tradition at Sydney schools.